Things Can Always Get Worse
by Amoura2018
Summary: Ritsu is determined to turn his life around. He starts his new job and moves into his new apartment today after 2 weeks of planning, organizing, and playing the perfect day over in his head. Nothing ever goes wrong when you spend a lot of time planning... right?
1. Chapter 1

***Reveiwed and fixed parts of this chapter. I didn't change anything to do with the plot though. Thanks guys.

Hey Everyone! This is my first story ever so I would LOVE any feedback. This chapter Follows Kind of close to the original story but it will be branching away from the original. I apologize ahead of time for any OOC characters. Thank you for taking time to read this! _Italics are Ritsu's thoughts_

The day had finally come, the day that he would start to make a name for himself and prove all of those around him wrong. He waited anxiously at his new apartment for the movers to bring all of his boxes with him. Over the past two weeks he could barely contain all of his energy inside of his person, he was about to start his new job that he landed on his own and to finally move into his new apartment which he had also selected and found on his own. In fact he was so a ball of overwhelming energy that he had all of his belongings packed up a week and five days early, and then he unpacked them and re-packed several times after that just to make sure everything was stored in the most efficient way possible. He had everything planned out perfectly, this was going to be the best decision of his life. No more would he hear that he only achieved anything because of his father's name, no more would he have to listen to how he would take over his father's company, and no more would he been seen as a spoiled child that could do nothing for himself. He was Onodera Ritsu and he would leave his own legacy on the world of literature!

Or so he thought...

A pathway had been worn through his apartment from his pacing that had been going on for nearly two hours. He had already called the mover's phone number a hundred times(Though his phone only showed 27) and they refused to pick-up. He was scheduled to arrive at his new job at noon and it was already 10:30. He cursed at the vacant apartment as he had no choice but to leave the entrance way and take a shower, they had keys so they would be able to let themselves in after all. He jumped into the shower before even bothering to check the temperature only to walk into what could only be described as water that must have freshly melted off an iceberg straight through his faucet. The brunette screeched as he frantically tried to adjust the temp only to find himself turning the water pressure up instead of the temperature. By the time he had finished showering(which was done in record timing) he could honestly say that there is no way in hell the hot water was working in his shower. Making his way out of the shower and into his barren room to dig through the small bag that his mother insisted he bring just in case the movers didn't show up. As he dressed he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that the demon woman must have paid the movers to be late just so that she could be right one last time. He made his way to the walkway and started his descent to the ground floor and to the train. Upon boarding the train he realized that his day wasn't going to get any better. The was beyond full, forcing him to stand for his whole ride. He more than ready to get off of the train when he arrived at his stop, he walked along the street until he reached the massive building that would house his new and fulfilling job. As he took in the building he had a sudden jolt of pure horror, his briefcase was still on the train. He looked up at the sky in an effort to not start shouting obscenities at whatever deity came to mind and gain what little bit of composure he still had left. Ritsu managed to calm himself down as a light chuckle and a barely audible "At least it can't get any-worse" as he walked into the building to see the young lady that was supposed to show him around.

He was wrong to challenge the gods, it certainly could get worse. A whole hell of a lot worse, he just hoped the gods felt satisfied with their show of power over him. Anymore bad luck and he may break down. How did this day go so wrong? He Spent SO MUCH time planning for it, he had seen it go through perfectly in his head hundreds of times in the last 2 weeks. Never in his wildest dreams could he have planned for this. "Shojo manga?! Wait, that can't be right. I was hired as a literary editor, that's where my experience and credentials stem from. I was called and told specifically that I was hired as a literary editor! Please check it over again, there must be a mistake!" The panic was evident in his voice but the young lady continued on in her overly happy and helpful tone. "I'm sorry but that's what it says right here, this is your name right here right? And then right here it shows your department. I'm sure they are dieing to meet you so lets hurry up and not keep them waiting!" He begrudgingly followed behind looking like a small puppy with it's tail tucked between his legs, his usually bright emerald eyes seemed to take a slightly darker and depressed shade. The young lady escorted him all over the building for what seemed like ages, he probably should have been listening to the lady but he was too busy trying to convince himself to stick it out for a month and then put in for a transfer. He finally managed to muster the strength to go on and see out his new plan. After-all, things couldn't get any wor... His thoughts were cut off by a squeak that his tour guide had made. "THE CYCLE MUST HAVE BEEN PROLONGED! GOOD LUCK!" Ritsu didn't think it was possible for the woman to run as fast as her mouth but he had just been proven wrong. "Hello I'm Onodera Ritsu." Ritsu remained with his head bowed down for several moments before he looked up and saw hell itself. He made his way over to what appeared to be a person and tapped their shoulder to get their attention. The body slid onto the floor only to slowly turn, look at Ritsu, and muter a simple "what?" His voice was so weak that Ritsu was afraid it might be the young man's final breath. "I'm Onodera Ritsu, I'm supposed to be starting in Emerald today." The half dead man managed to pull himself back into his seat with what looked to be an extreme amount of effort. _What the hell is going on in here? It smells like something died in here then was drug through every mud puddle and questionable mound that could be seen before someone decided that this was the perfect place to leave it._ "Oi! Takano! The newbie is here!" With that Ritsu looked up to see what appeared to be the reenactment of that bad joke about hell. All that was left was for this "Takano" guy to say "alright guys, break times over. Back on your heads." There were four bodies that Ritsu could see in the small room/cubicle, only one of which he could confirm was alive. He watched as the body furthest from him started to move and remove a book from on top of his face and immediately wished he would have left it there. He had a slight phobia/anxiety that had to do with guys that had dark hair and nearly golden hazel eyes. Hell it wasn't just men. He had seen a fairly manly looking woman with these traits that nearly made him fall backwards down the escalator one time. _Get a hold of yourself Ritsu! You can't let your imagination make this day anymore of a living hell! Just because he kind of looks like him doesn't mean you need to freak out as if it were him. What the hell did I do to deserve this?!_ The dark haired man placed a pair of glasses on that did nothing to hide the extreme bags under his eyes while he grabbed some papers off of the desk in front of him. Ritsu Introduced himself onece again. "Yeah, I heard someone like you was coming today. What did you work on before? Teen, young adult?" _Someone like "you?" What the hell is that supposed to mean?_ Ritsu gained his composure for what felt like the hundredth time that day to answer the man whom easily could have been confused with a walking dead man, he smelled like one too. "I worked for Onodera Publishing as a Literature Editor." "Literature?!" As the word flew out of Takano's mouth he made it sound like lowest level job one could acquire. _Because Shojo Mangaka are far more revered then Literature authors of course. Why don't you get your head out of your ass and actually give me a chance before judging me._ "Useless." Ritsu's breath hitched in his chest, he had left his old job because of this and already on his first day this word was haunting him. He wasn't even given a chance to prove his worth before he was labeled once again. "Takano-san, the sub mat is done." One of the lifeless bodies snapped him out of his anxiety bubble as it seemed he too was alive and able to talk, it didn't smell anymore alive then the other two walking dead men though. "Arigato, you'll have to learn to work as you go. Come with me newbie." Ritsu followed the raven haired man into the elevator "By sub mat you must mean substitute material, so did one of the mangakas not pull through on the deadline." The older man didn't even bother looking up, only acknowledging his question with a "That's right." A slightly confused Ritsu more curious than he would like to admit about why they were Going to get sub mats. "Surely you have sub mats here at Marukawa, why are we going to pick some up?" Takano looked as if he had been asked the most obvious question on earth but still chose to answer it. "They're garbage." _Like this job is. But you don't see me leaving to go find a new job right now do you? No you don't, because right now this garbage substitute is a necessity until I have time to find a job that will actually fulfill my needs._ "It's just a filler, it's going to be bad." Ritsu regretted opening his mouth the moment the other man turned and glared at him. "You really are useless. Just because sub mat is a filler doesn't mean you can use just anything, if there's a hole cram a diamond in it, even if it's rough." _That's only in a best case scenario, who on earth is luck enough to stumble upon a diamond when they are desperately trying to find something last minute?_ _By the time you get it you will realize it's just cubic zirconium covered in mud._ Ritsu's thoughts kept getting more and more depressed as they made their way to the mangaka's place of work. Secretly Ritsu hoped that when they got there the sub mat would be terrible, while this man wasn't the dark haired golden hazel eyed man that haunted him from the past he still wanted nothing more than to see his perfect plan shattered. Part of it was because he brought back memories of that man, but the other part was because the brunette thought he was too arrogant for his own good.

The younger man had had enough with challenging the gods and decided his mantra of "things can't get any worse" wasn't going to cheer him up anyways, so he simply sat back and waited to see what else could possibly go wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys, I planned to post this sooner but a lot of stuff happened. Either way it's here now, hope you guys like it! Any _italics_ are Ritsu's thoughts. Thank you for reading this! And thank you for the review too! I really appreciate it! Anywho...

Disclaimer: I do not own the series or the characters.

The ride over was quiet, the scenery was quaint, and Ritsu was once again his jaded self. Those 2 weeks were fun though, a completely useless waste of time but fun. What made him think he could simply walk out of his old jaded life that the gods had "blessed" him with and straight into a new fairy tale life? And all those thoughts of actually finding someone to fill that empty hole in his heart? Ha! Like that could ever happen, the gods were always throwing dark haired and golden eyed roadblocks that would remind him of what could/would happen if he ever tried again. Why did he think a new job and place to reside at was such a big deal to begin with? His thoughts continued their assault all the way to their destination, not a single word said between the two men.

Ritsu's thoughts stop their barrage as the car stops at their destination. _All right Ritsu, get yourself together. I may not like this job assignment but I still need to show this asshole that I'm not some useless newbie, my transfer depends on that. Anything that I can possibly do to help get this manga to the printers, anything._ The two knock on the office door and are greeted by a young lady who brings them to a table that has her hard work sitting in the middle waiting to be looked over and judged. Her nervousness overly apparent as she fidgets while Takano combs through each and every sheet with his eyes. "I'm sorry for asking you to finish it in three days but it looks like we picked the right person." The young lady's eyes light up at hearing this and her voice is rushed and high pitched in reply "Thank you! And it was no problem at all, really." Her face gleams like a small child who was just praised for doing the right thing. "Could you grab your tools?" A confused look now crosses her face, as if the "good job" she just received was now tagged with a "however." Ritsu looked over at the sheet Takano was looking at, noticing it was a kiss scene made him uncomfortable but also made him want to laugh. _I bet he's jealous of the picture. Bet that asshole doesn't even know what it's like._ His internal scoffing was cut off when he realized that the only kiss he had received was from another dark haired and golden eyed man. "Here they are!" She managed to find her chipper voice with her tools also. "Can you make this kissing scene more dramatic?" The brunette watched as the woman started fixing the scene in question. He started wondering if the dark haired man even planned to get the sheets to the printer today, he sure did like dragging his feet. "Make it more from this angle. Have you ever even kissed someone before?" His sharp question obviously hitting a sore spot as the poor woman turned bright red in embarrassment. _If my transfer didn't depend on me and this asshole getting along I would say something but I just can't. She chose to be in this line of work, I choose to get out of it_ "You know, even if you kiss someone it's not like you can see yourself doing it." She seemed to be extremely proud of herself for coming up with this excuse that she must have thought would cover up her lack of experience. The brunette watched as the dark haired man got up and started taking off his glasses in frustration, he looked as though he wanted to scream at the woman but was trying very hard to keep it all in. Ritsu saw this as his opportunity to show that he was a team player and would do anything to help with getting to the printers. "Where are the references at? I can go get them." Ritsu called out in what he thought was a helpful and cherry tone but came out as nothing of the sort. "I'm only going to show you this once so be quick." Ritsu and the woman both looking at Takano thinking that he was talking to them. Without any warning Takano grabbed Ritsu's face and pulled him into a chaste kiss. Ritsu was too surprised by the action to register what was going on, unable to pull away until after Takano had already pulled away. "Did you get that?" his even toned voice reflecting nothing to suggest that what Ritsu thought had just happened had actually just happened. "Hai!" the young woman rang out, sounding as if her muse had just appeared before her and told her all of the details of her next great work. _What the hell just happened? Did he really just, no. I'm imagining things, I am imagining things right? That couldn't have just... That asshole! Who does he think he is? I'm not just a puppet for him to use for anything he can think up! That-That's sexual harassment! Just wait until we get back! I WILL have your job!_ As if Ritsu had finally realized what had just happened and gained his nerve he started yelling at Takano "What the hell was that?!" "It was work of course." the dark haired mans face didn't even change a bit with his response, no emotion whatsoever shown on it. _This man is a monster._

The long and silent car ride back left Ritsu to his own thoughts which he wasn't fond of at the moment. _Who the hell does he think he is? You can't just do that to people, even if you say it's just for work. Why is my heart still racing? *sigh* I don't think I'm going to make it long enough to get transferred. No one is gong to want someone who complained sexual harassment on their first day of work so I can't exactly report him. I can't exactly just act like it didn't happen even thought that's what that asshole is going to do. No wonder why they had a position open. I guess I know why all of the other teams avoid the Emerald department like the plague. What did I sign myself up for._ "Hey, are you dissapointed with being in shoujo manga? I know you had originally asked to be put in literature." The brunette's train of thought is ripped from it's tracks from the hard exterior mans sudden question of concern. Ritsu franticly tries to explain it without causing hard feelings. "It's not so much that I'm dissapointed it's just... My skill set has to do with literature not shoujo manga. I really just don't get all of the romance and think I would be more of an asset in literature." "If you're not motivated just quit, you'll only get in the way." The dark haired man's voice still held no emotion but that only made his statement that much harsher. "Not everyone is lucky enough to love the job that they have. In the end everyone was a noob at some point." His face still without emotion but the subtle note of encouragement registers in Ritsu while the other man takes a drag from his cigarette. "But no matter how you look at it useless people will always be useless." Takano's face still as blank as if he just said that the sky is blue. _I'll kill you!_ "Newbie, the others have all gone home by now. Where do you live so that I can drop you home." Ritsu seems to contemplate whether he should tell this sexual predator where he lives or just get out and walk from here. They're still quite a ways away so his mind reasons that there are so many apartments in his building it wouldn't hurt for him to drop him off at the entrance. They ride the rest of the way to his apartment in silence, Ritsu trying desperately to figure out what to think of this man. His expressions are flat yet his comments go from zero to one hundred every other word. Stressfull. That's the nicest word he could come up with for him. Takano pulled into the parking garage next to his apartment. "Umm... Takano-san? You could have just dropped me off at the entrance. You really don't need to walk me in." "Eh? Why the hell would I want to walk you to the door? I live here too." Ritsu looking as if he had just seen a ghost was running several different scenarios through his head. One being that Takano really did live there, the rest consisted of Takano following him to his apartment and Ritsu needing to race him into his apartment and call the cops immediately. Ritsu was hoping for the first but he knew the gods would most likely have a different plan for him. As they both entered the elevator Ritsu pressed the button for his floor and waited for Takano to press his. _Here is the moment of truth. I guess he could just be waiting to see what floor I'm on and then come back later when I'm not expecting it, so even if he picks another floor he still could be stalking me. I guess there's only one way to find out._ " Ummm... Takano-san, what floor do you need me to hit for you?" "It seems like we're on the same floor." _This is bad, really really bad! I have to get my phone ready. I can't call until I am in my apartment though, I don't want him attacking me for calling the cops on him. Why me?! What did I possibly do to deserve this? What did I do in a past life to deserve this constant hatred from the gods? Did I spend my whole past life kicking puppies and pushing over the elderly?!_ Ritsu tried to keep his cool on the outside even though all he wanted was to scream and run like hell on the inside. As the elevator took it's time reaching their floor Ritsu waited for Takano to get out of the elevator first, his final trick to thwart the other's plans. "What the hell are you doing newbie? This is our floor, get the hell out." Ritsu hung his head down as he was forced to leave first, he could feel a pair of golden eyes boring into the back of his head. Ritsu had all but given up as he reached his door. As he pulled out his keys he heard the man behind him trying to grab something out of his bag also. _This is it, I can't get in before he stabs or threatens me, or rapes me, or... Why do the gods hate me so?_ "Hey." Ritsu looks up ready for his fate only to be greeted by a still emotionless and very much unarmed man. "Have we met before?" Ritsu stares at him completely bewildered. Did this man follow him all the way up here just to ask him that? "Never mind, wait here a minute." The man opens the door next to Ritsu's and dissapears inside. _Wait, does he really live here? Right next to me? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Of all the bad luck I get stuck next to the sexual predator from hell that thinks I'm completely useless and just so happens to be my boss._ Ritsu's thoughts are put on hold as the dark haired man appears once again, with a large stack of books in his arms. "Here, if you're planning on staying you should at least try to understand what you're going to be working on." Dumbfounded Ritsu stood there not sure of what to do. "Oi! Are you going to take them or not?" "Ha-Hai! Thank you very much! I will read through all of these and get them back to you right away." Ritsu tries to unlock his door while holding all of mangas in his hand with out any luck. "You truly are useless." Takano grabs the keys from Ritsu while his arms wrap around Ritsu while unlocking the door. "I don't need your help! I can do it on my own!" Ritsu cries out, sounding more like a plea than a statement. As his door opens in front of him he bolts into his apartment.

He puts everything down and turns around to shut the door only to find his boss standing in the doorway. A sudden chill runs down his back as he realizes the position he is in.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys, sorry it took soo long to get this one up. I had it wrote up I just didn't have a chance to review over it, and then I forgot that I hadn't uploaded it yet . But, here it is. Thank you for spending some of your precious time to read my story, it means a lot to me!

"U-um…. I'm sorry but as you can see I just moved in and haven't even started unpacking. Maybe next time I can offer you coffee or something. Anyways, good night." Ritsu rushed through his excuse and tried to convince the taller man to leave but he just continued staring at him as if he were the lion and the smaller man was the gazelle. The smaller man had no doubts that the outcome would be pretty similar too if he were to decided that he was his prey. "You really don't remember me do you?" Takano's voice was still as flat as ever but the brunette couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. Ritsu racked his thoughts and just couldn't place him, probably because he made it a point to flush out any memories of tall dark and handsomes from his mind.

Ritsu shook his head before any more thoughts could come to his head, "I'm sorry but I don't think we've met. Maybe you are confusing me with someone else?" Whether they had met before or not Ritsu felt that denying it and coming up with other possibilities was the best. After all, everyone that he met that would fit into the tall, dark hair, and golden eyes category would only remember him as either making a fool of himself or being a complete ass to them. Most likely both. "You're a terrible person." The words sounded so heavy when they came out of Takano's mouth as he retreated from the doorway, the younger man couldn't deny the immense amount of pain they sent through his heart.

Despite his better judgement he followed the raven haired man out into the hall. "I already told you that you have me confused with someone else. I'm sorry for whatever that person did to you but it has nothing to do with me! Why don't you take your anger out on someone else, or maybe you should try and find that person and tell them that they're terrible!" As Ritsu caught his breath reality dawned on him, he was yelling in the apartment complex at 2am. He had undoubtedly woken up many of his neighbors with his antics, and on his first day too. All of a sudden Ritsu felt a firm grip on his arm dragging him away. Before he could fully register what was happening he heard a click from the door being locked behind him. As Ritsu started to protest he was cut off by Takano pushing him up against the wall both hands firmly wrapped around his small wrists being held in a way that he couldn't escape. When Ritsu looked up he noticed he was face to face with the now pissed off raven. "Don't you think I tried to find him? I asked around school but no one had ever heard of him, I asked teachers, deans, even the principal but no one had ever heard of him. Do you have any idea how desperate I was?" All Ritsu could do was stare in horror as the man cast more and more guilt on his soul, he could feel the desperation in the man's voice as if he was still living that time of his life. Ritsu understood him, he was also stuck living in the past not quite able to shake off the feelings of then and not quite ready to let them go either. "I actually thought that I was important to you, but then I find out that you left the country with your fiancé." The younger male froze, Takano's story seemed so similar to his only, the older man made it sound like he was the victim. This couldn't be his Senpai, could it? There's no way, his Senpai was simply using him. He was nothing more than a play thing to him, something that occupied his time and saved him from boredom, something that was gross. "Is it true? Were you engaged when we were dating? I was told it was but I just can't imagine that you would be that type of person, even after all of these years I can't bring myself to accept it." Takano's eyes bore into Ritsu's soul, eagerly awaiting a response. His pained expression was begging him to say it wasn't true. Ritsu didn't know what to say, and even if he did he wouldn't know how to say it. So he said the only thing he could manage to get out. "Sa-Saga Senpai?" He watched as the two little words caused the raven's eyes to light up, as if everything wrong with the world had been fixed with those two little words.

"So you do remember me?" It was more of a statement than a question but at the same time the older man looked as if he still wanted, or maybe even needed an answer. "Ha-hai." The brunette cautiously answered, afraid of what admitting would lead into. With a much softer face and a much softer tone the raven repeated the question he desperately needed answered once again. "So were you?" Ritsu felt his heart sink to the floor, he was pretty sure it even dropped to the floor below them. While the answer was yes it wasn't as if they were ever serious about the arrangement. Or at least he wasn't. There's no way Saga would believe him though. But wouldn't that make this so much easier? If he could simply wash his hands clean of him? Maybe this was the closure he needed all along, maybe he would finally be able to walk away from his already foggy memories of this man. But his heart and voice betrayed his mind. "We were never serious about it, it was something our parents put together. I-I never mentioned it because I knew it would make things awkward. I knew it wouldn't matter anyways." Takano's face started reverting back to that of pure anger. Pure anger with a subtle back drop of pain, something he couldn't quite be sure of whether he was imagining or not. "I had no intentions of ever marrying her, I wasn't in a position to tell my parents no." Ritsu's voice became weaker and weaker as he spoke, he wasn't even sure if the man could hear everything that he had said or not. The younger man's head hung down low as he tried to stifle the tears that he could feel were breaking free and rolling down his face. He felt the holds on his wrists loosen which only caused him to fight hard to keep his sobs from becoming audible. He felt one of the large and calloused hands release his wrist and come up to his chin, making the young man look up into his eyes.


End file.
